The Money Comes Rollin' In

Even taking such drastic measures to reduce the costs of housing, many graduate say they still cannot pay their bills with a stipend provided to them buy the University.

Although details vary from department to department, most students on financial aid receive substantial tuition assistance for the first two years of study. Though students still get some aid in their latter years at the University, many must find a new source of income to keep pace.

"After that you start work as a teaching fellow to pay for your tuition and apartment," Johnson said.

One-third of all GSAS students currently work as teaching fellows (TFs), and as housing prices rise, they often feel financial pressure to overextend themselves.

"Teaching in more than one class at one time is an enormous time commitment," says Lauterbach. "One should spend 10 hours of prep time for every hour in section, but in reality for me, it is more like 15 to 20 hours of prep.

Her estimates of the amount of prep time are on par with most others given by graduate students and administrators.

Taking on two classes adds as much as thirty hours a week of work on top of a graduate student's own research.